PSL – MATCH 11 – MULTAN SULTANS VS KARACHI KINGS – FANTASY PREVIEW

Fantastic Friday is back as well as a double-header too in the Pakistan Super League. In the first match of the day, topper of the points table Karachi Kings faces Multan Sultans. Karachi Kings won their all three matches and being at top spot in points ladder while Sultans are holding at no. 3 with 2 wins out of 3 matches. Match 11 between Multan Sultans vs Karachi Kings is schedule to start at 3:30 PM Local | 5 PM IST on Friday, 2nd March 2018.

MULTAN SULTANS :

The brand new franchise in the PSL, Multan Sultans had registered 2 wins and a loss in their first three matches. After first two comfortable wins, Sultans lost to Ismalabad United in their last match on last Sunday. Shoaib Malik led-side has a plenty of experienced players along with some domestic talents. Bowling attack were on top in first two games but it didn’t work well in the last game. Batting unit shown a great job in those first two matches but nothing gone in their way in the last game. It’s a time for Sultans to regroup and come back into winning ways. If Multan Sultans beats Kings in this game, then they would have a possible chance to be at top of the points table. Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara opens the batting along with Ahmed Shehzad for Sultans. Sanga proved why he is best with back-to-back match-winning half-centuries in the first two matches. He is in pretty good form at the moment and he should capitalize it by playing another big knock. Ahmed Shehzad was struggling to score runs, except the innings of 38 off 33 runs against Qalandars. In other two matches, Shehzad was dismissed for 0 and 11 (24 balls) respectively. As there are not much of back-up openers in Sultans side, Shehzad would possibly retain his place in the XI. Some slight chances for Shan Masood or Umer Siddiq to make their debut for Sultans as well.

After the first match Multan Sultans were realized that they need to add more strength to the batting unit, so they brought in Darren Bravo on the expenses of bowler Hardus Viljoen. But Darren didn’t utilize those opportunities and scored only 9 and 6 runs respectively. His chances in the playing XI are fading away. As the hard-hitter Nicholas Pooran and Ross Whiteley are awaiting for their opportunities, either one of them would possibly replace Bravo in the XI. Local batsman Sohaib Maqsood yet to play a big innings in the season. He is expect to get another chance before make a way for others. The pillar of the team is skipper Shoaib Malik who used to contribute with a bat every time that he step in to the middle. His scores 42, 48 and 35 were came in at crucial times and he set to play another big role for Sultans in this game. The big-hitting all-rounder Kieron Pollard is the other major impact player in the squad and he already played some quick firing cameos in the tournament. Both Pollard and Malik are capable of picking wickets with their part-time spells and as the team short of one specialist bowler, these two will at least share 4 overs among them. Saif Badar is just holding the place in the XI as the team requires 7 Pakistan players in the XI. The 19-years old batsman might keep his place in the XI.

South African top leg-spinner Imran Tahir is the lone specialist spinner in the XI for Sultans in all those 3 matches. Tahir started the campaign with an expensive 1 for 37 spell but he turned the mode quickly and picked 3 wickets each in next two matches. Currently, he has a tally of 7 wickets in 3 matches. Left-arm pace bowling trio Sohail Tanvir, Mohammad Irfan and Junaid Khan are a major front-line bowlers of Sultans. Sohail Tanvir was expensive and bowled on or around 9 runs per over in all three matches. But on other side, the tallest Mohammad Irfan had bowled very controlled spells and picked 5 wickets in 3 matches. Junaid Khan also bowled an impressive spells to claim 5 wickets in 3 matches. Don’t forget the experienced Umar Gul is also in the squad and he would come into the equation at some part of the time in the tournament.

KARACHI KINGS :

A clinical performances with a bat and bowl assured a hat-trick wins to start the season for Karachi Kings. All-rounder Imad Wasim led-side didn’t post too big totals on the board yet but their bowling unit controlled opponents thoroughly which helped the team to win three matches in a row. Domestic batsman Khurram Manzoor and England batsman Joe Denly used to open the innings for Kings in all three matches. Denly who had played several good knocks in both BPL and BBL recent times, struggled to score runs in the first two matches. But he overcame it well with a quick 28 runs off 14 balls in the last game. The explosive top-order batsman is expected to offer the similar start in this game. Khurram Manzoor started the season with some handy knock of 35 runs. But since that he managed to score 14 runs in 2 innings and his strike-rate were not up to the mark. So, Kings think-tank might think about bringing back Babar Azam to an opening spot where he played several good knocks last year and in that case, they will add either Mohammad Taha or Saifullah Bangash in middle-order.

It wasn’t a quite good start for the batting sensation Babar Azam. He just played one handy knock in three innings and he was dismissed for golden duck in the last game. Move upward to openers position might help Babar to score more runs freely. Colin Ingram was the only batsman who offered runs in all three innings. He scored 41 (21), 23 (14) and 28 (29 balls) runs respectively. He had a good form in the BPL and continuing that form in the PSL too. The key performer Ravi Bopara had scored his first half-century of the season in the last game and that was the turning point of the match for Kings other night. Bopara had played a major role in Kings campaign in past seasons and he just to continue that role in the upcoming remaining matches too. Well-controlled bowling spells by the captain Imad Wasim helps the team to gain momentum at early stages of bowling innings. He had taken 3 wickets in 3 innings with an economy rate of 6 runs per over. The all-rounder also ready to finish-off the batting innings with some big hitting.

The star player of the team, Boom Boom Shahid Afridi had bowled so well in all three innings to claim 6 wickets. He was very economical in all three innings and bowled at less than 6 runs per over. He didn’t get much of batting opportunities yet, but he will witness his hard-hitting batting performances soon. Pakistan speedster Mohammad Amir had bowled too good in first two matches but unfortunately, he was injured during the second match and didn’t play the last game. Not sure whether he is available for the selection for this game. Amir’s replacement Usman Khan just utilized the opportunity and picked 3 for 26 runs in the last game. He did it well in the last year too, so he probably keeps his place in the XI. Tymal Mills also bowled well and picked a tally of 5 wickets in 3 matches. He is expected to keep his place in the XI.

Cricket is what everyone loves. If you’re ready to play fantasy cricket but don’t know how to analyze players, consider his Articles as the foundation of your fantasy teams. Anand is a cricket blogger and fantasy cricket lover.

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